new year

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Rama Ananth in my previous post under the heading WHAT IS
LIFE wrote this excellent comment which I am reproducing below=

QUOTE

I feel we are responsible for bringing our children to this
earth and we should realize that however much we want our children to be with
us, to love us,and support us, we are wrong in expecting those things from our
children.

Nowadays children are so matured in their thinking that we
can surely learn a few things from them. They feel that neither they have the
time nor proper care to give their kids nor the relevant support system, so
they choose not to have any kids. I can understand their point of view, and
fully support their thinking in this manner, for life today is not what it was
years ago. It takes so much effort to finish their studies and settle in some
good job and then finally getting married to an equally busy wife----- time
just flew past them they are too old by the time they can even think of being
responsible parents.

Plus they have realized that they have come alone to this world and would leave
alone from this world, so the question of
having children to support them in their old age does not even arise for
them.

They want to achieve their goals and be happy and free for
the rest of their lives. I feel they deserve it, if that is what they choose
and we as parents can support them and feel happy that they are not doing the
mistakes we did in our life time.

Life is always changing and we should also change our
thoughts according to changing times, for there is really no right or wrong in
any thing.

UNQUOTE

RAMA ANANTH is a fantastic blogger and I recommend that you
visit her by clicking here. I am sure she will be delighted and will certainly reciprocate.

This is an interesting issue which has many sides and I
would like to present my point of view in my next post.

In the meanwhile, I would we very glad to know your
views in as much detail as possible. There is no need to hold back your thoughts and let it flow.

We are born in this world, we live and we die. When we are young we think we will never die
and when we are old the thought of death constantly nags us. When we are young
we are strong and energetic but when we are old we become weak and we need
help. We are born, we grow, we study, we marry, we have children and we are the
centre of attraction for many years and after some years children grow up,
stand on their own feet and go their way to make a life for themselves leaving
us to fend for ourselves. When we are
young we work hard, save money for old age and in the old age we spend the money
saved not for enjoyment but for medicines and hospital bills. When we
are young we are daring and reckless but when we are old we become cautious and
careful. When we are born we have our
parents to take care of us but when we are old we often find ourselves lonely
with no one to care for us. Human beings are superior to animals but in the end
we also die and vanish like animals.

These are some of the thoughts that came to my mind as I was
walking today pondering about life. These observations are not based on
religion or theology or philosophy.

Friday, January 9, 2015

Epicurians will say we should enjoy life and eat as much as
possible in our life time. The Stoics on the other hand will say that we should live a frugal
life, eat as little as possible to survive and be immune to pleasure , pain and
suffering.

There are others who say that we should LIVE TO EAT and yet others
will tell us that we should EAT TO LIVE.

From the net I got the following information.

quotePeople today eat way more than they used to — and way more than they need
to. This means that they're constantly taking in more calories than their bodies
can burn. Unfortunately, lots of us don't realize that we're eating too much
because we've become so used to seeing (and eating!) large portions.Portion sizes began to increase in the 1980s and have been ballooning ever
since. Take bagels, for example: 20 years ago, the average bagel had a 3-inch
diameter and 140 calories. Today, bagels often have a 6-inch diameter and 350
calories. One bagel that size actually contains half a person's recommended
number of grain servings for an entire day!The price of such overabundance is high. It's common knowledge that people
who consistently overeat are likely to become overweight. But they also risk
getting a number of medical problems, including high blood pressure, high
cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, bone and joint problems, breathing and sleeping
problems, and even depression. Later in life, people who overeat are at greater
risk for heart disease, heart failure, and stroke.It's easy to understand why the food industry tends to serve way more food
than is necessary: Customers love to feel like they're getting the best value
for their money! But the value meal is no deal when it triples our calories and
sets the stage for health problems.

unquote

I generally eat very moderately. But after some days of moderate eating the
temptation to eat a full stomach overcomes me. On one such day, I was
walking on MG Road and saw a menu board on the sidewalk in front of a
restaurant with the word KABSA. I was curious. I went in and asked the man at
the counter about the word KABSA. He explained to me that it is a delicious
biriyani eaten by the people of Arabia.
I couldn’t control myself. So I ordered a plate of chicken kabsa and ate a
stomach full. I felt sick due to over eating, tired and sleepy too. With great
difficulty I got up, paid the bill and went to Lourdes Hospital to meet a friend
who was admitted there for heart
ailment.

Since I was feeling sick due to over eating, I went to the
cafeteria in the hospital, bought a cup of coffee and sat at one of the round
tables and started sipping the coffee.
My attention was caught by a slim middle aged woman who briskly walked towards
my table and sat on a chair. She looked at me but I pretended to look the other
way. She quickly took out a stainless steel container and a small plastic
container. She opened them and I saw the stainless steel container had plain
boiled rice and the small plastic container had some vegetable curry. Once
again she looked at me but I pretended not to notice her. She then took a
pinch of vegetable curry and put it on top of the rice and ate it. Then she ate
three or four handful of plain rice. Since the plain rice was not going down
her throat she pulled out a plastic bottle with water from her bag and gulped down some water.
Again she took little vegetable curry and ate it with the rice. Then she
repeated the procedure of eating three or four handful of plain rice and gulp
down some water. In this way she finished eating the entire rice. Then she got up, took the containers to the nearby tap, washed them, put them
back in her bag.and walked away. May be she didn’t have enough money to
buy a decent meal, I thought. But she looked very strong and healthy whereas I
was sitting there feeling sick, tired and sleepy on account of over eating.

So this brings us back to the question HOW MUCH SHOULD WE EAT? I am sure you
have your own views on the subject. Best wishes.

Thursday, January 1, 2015

2014 has become history now. We did many things, we did
not do many things and we could have
done somethings better. Any way, there
is no point in regretting the past. Let us look forward to 2015 with confidence
and hope.

This year I want to read more books, live frugally, eat
healthy and walk more. I hope I will be able to keep up these resolutions till
the end.

Wish you and your family a very healthy, happy and
prosperous new year. Best wishes.

About Me

Hi, my name is Joseph Thomas Pulikotil. I hope you will find my blog interesting, informative and thought provoking.Please feel free to post your comments, opinions, appreciation,improvements, suggestions or whatever you feel. I will surely visit your blog and we will be good friends.